I finally got around to spraying up my ///M vents and got them fitted this week. The ///M badge recess was already filled in when I bought them so all as I had to do was spray the inner part black (satin black) and the rest of the vent in titanium silver. Being silver its always pretty hard to get a decent colour match but I think they came out pretty well and are a good match with the rest of the car so I'm happy with them for the time being.

Also the pics show how the car sits now on coilovers. The front is now a lot lower than it was when I had the eibachs fitted, yet the back is similar although I would like to go slightly lower but I will need to fit the springs without the adjusters. It seems to handle quite a bit better than it did with the eibachs despite being a bit firmer but I like the way it drives.

And I managed to fix my angel eyes by changing the control box as it had obviously got water in and given up. Fitted a new one and extended the wire so it is now fitted under the dash to stop it from getting wet.

Next up is to fit new front discs and pads along with a pair of new calipers as one is slightly sticky. I think I will probably change the rear discs and pads at the same time and the rear calipers and carriers both front and rear will be sandblasted ready for a colour change.

Now the weather has changed I've got my winter wheels and hardtop back on ready for the next few month winter motoring. Also I managed to source a brand new aerodynamics rear bumper which I've been after for ages, still needs to be sprayed as its only primed at the moment (probably after christmas), but the trial fit went well and showed that all the original fixings from the standard bumper fit so the swap is pretty straight forward. When its been sprayed I'll renew all the plastic clips so its nice and fresh.

Something in the engine bay has been making some horrible noises recently so we took the belt off and ran the car for a few seconds to see if the noise would go and it did. So the first culprit we checked was the water pump by spinning it and straight away we could diagnose where the noise is coming from and also it could be moved showing quite a lot of play in it. I don't know if its ever been changed so its lasted well covering almost 135,000 miles but a new one with a metal impeller has already been purchased. Also its a good excuse to get fresh anti freeze in and a new thermostat and housing can be installed whilst were at it, hopefully this weekend.

And finally my favourite picture taken of my zed at Santa Pod about to go down the strip back in September

Last edited by g8jka on Sat 23 Apr, 2016 21:25, edited 2 times in total.

deni2s wrote:Love the side gills. Don't like the angel eyes, because of that colour. Don't like aero rear bumper, because looks out of place without aero side skirts.

Thanks, as the aero bumpers are so rare I got it whilst I had the chance. It would look better with the side skirts but again these are extremely rare and if the chance to get them comes along I will snap them up so it will match. If not, I can always sell the bumper, it would probably look the same having the aero skirts without the bumper. Because the front of the car is now lower as I have added the lip, I thought it would add a bit of balance to the back of the car, as it now looks deeper and lower than the standard bumper.

MpowerRob wrote:Love the Santa pod picture, haven't been up there for ages used to go nearly every month for run what you brung what 1/4 time did you get?

Best was 16.6 if I remember, don't know if that's any good for a 2.0 as there was no others to compare it too.

16.6 is a good time for a n/a 2.0 car, got to say I'm not a fan of the aero kit on the z3 full stop just think it looks abit Max power but that's just my opinion, I think your car looks the dogs b#*locks as it is, and one of the nicest Z3s I've seen.

Thanks, would have been nice to go up with another 2.0 but there's not many about. I can see what you mean, there is not a lot of add on mods that look good on zeds as they look a bit stuck on and like they shouldn't be there. Even the aero one is on the limits imho, I think it should look good when it's sprayed. I've wanted one ever since I saw yaldens old zed.

Been reading through this thread on and off all day. Like your choice of mods and the transformation from when you got it to how it looks now is great Are you going to have the aero bumper painted? Could look ok but it's hard to tell with it in primer

Yes it will be painted but probably not until the new year now, just need to get a few quotes and find a decent bodyshop that can do it for a reasonable price. The exhaust tips now look a little lost against the cut out so they need to come out further but I'm thinking of getting some new ones or maybe even a new system in the future. And I need to make a new cut out in this bumper ready for the reverse camera to be fitted.

Your car looks great as well by the way, love the work you have done to it.

So this year hasn't been the best so far as I was in hospital from the start of January with a very serious illness, only being discharged a couple of week ago despite not being back to full fitness. Fortunately the zed was not neglected and spent the duration tucked away in Gookah's garage, apart from a surprise trip out to the body shop to get the aero rear bumper sprayed. They have done a fantastic job and the colour match is spot on but I only got to see a few pictures of it so couldn't wait to get it back to see the real thing. The zed has been sorned now for a month but Gookah returned it to me last weekend (on trade plates ) and I'm very happy with how it looks.

It's still in full winter mode as I am unable to drive for the near future and is tucked back up in the garage. I have a couple of new tyres ready to be fitted to the fronts of my summer wheels, a new dashcam as the old one has given up, some better SMD angel eyes and few other goodies to fit as soon as I am well and able again. I can't wait to get back in my zed and get the roof down and wind in my hair.

So the zed has been back on the road now since June 1st and I've loved every minute of being back in it after so many months without it. I have done a few more things to it this year and a few at the end of last year.

I got a bit bored of the carbon fibre additions made to the interior and after seeing a couple of members brushed steel versions I decided it was time for a change. Not sure if I like it as much as the carbon fibre though so next time its out I think it could be getting changed.

Centre console

Steering wheel tabs

Door card inserts

Added some ///M pedals which I've had for 18 months (hope the ///M police don't get me)

August last year it had new discs, pads and handbrake shoes all round and 2 new front calipers. All calipers were changed from red to blue paint (forgot to update this!) and new locking bolts plus some smoked chrome bolt covers and new badges to replace the fading ones

I was never happy with the colour changing angel eyes purely because the white setting was always more blue than white, so I fitted a set of E36 SMD LED ones (trimmed to fit like the old ones) which look much better and are extremely bright

As the ///M badge was filled in on the side vents it always looked a bit bare, so I added some decals in the same colour as the calipers

A mod I have wanted for a while, was a stainless steel backbox, mainly for a better noise and a some nice looking tips. Had one fitted to the old system from a place called proflow at the cost of £140. I went for 2, 3" staggered tips to follow the lines of the bumper like the OEM pipes do. Sound wise it is not much louder than the standard system on idle or driving around town, but does rumble a lot more when you put your foot down. It also fits better against the aero bumper and the tips don't look lost anymore

Following Yaldens old mods to the rear with the aero bumper and US spec number plate holder, I managed to source one off another member and trimmed, sprayed and fitted it to allow me to run the short 5 digit plate. And I got my rear view camera put into the aero bumper

And it got a new oil and fuel filter plus fresh oil last Saturday (09/07/16) at 135108 miles, ready for Taffzees Welsh cruise on Sunday

Monday was time to get it looking nice and shiny again

If all goes to plan there will be a major update at the weekend with this little zeds future.

Well its been a great 6 years with this lovely little zed and it has give me some great fun and also memories. It's been a fantastic car over the years and never given me any major problems along the way and I've had so much fun tinkering with it, modding it and keeping it serviced and maintained. Also I have loved attending the shows and meeting other enthusiasts along the way, but unfortunately its time to let it go. I need a few weeks to sort things out and it will be put completely back to standard and then get advertised for sale. I will be very sad to see it go and probably shed a few tears!

Don't panic though, I won't be leaving the zed community any time soon. I haven't really been looking for anything else and thought I would be keeping the 2.0 forever, until yesterday when this happened

Its a 2000 2.8 with 97000 on the clock. 2 owners, although the last one only did 400 miles in it and had to sell it due to ill health. Just been through an MOT with a couple of advisories on the front brake discs and it's had 4 new tyres. It is basic and nowhere near the standard I'm used to but it will hopefully give me years more pleasure tinkering and improving it, plus its silver so my aero bumper / rieger lip and hardtop will go straight on it. I've always wanted a faster one but the 2.0 was the biggest engine I could afford at the time, seeing the price of the 3.0's go up in price recently I thought the 2.8 was a more valuable option. There's plenty of options out there at the moment and most with this spec (not a lot) and mileage are advertised for around 3 - 3.5K, 99% of them are pre-facelift although these are probably more sought after than the facelift. Anyway I picked this one up for the sum of just £1700 and that's even with a hardtop fitting kit, not a bad deal I reckon.

and again it begins, with a faster car...
you just wanted to beat me at Santa Pod.....
Have you made the list yet of items to swap.. It will be like Triggers broom, the only thing original in the new car will be the engine..
I noticed a big smile on your face though when you gave it the beans following me home

It was great whilst it worked, but I think it gave up after 18-24 months as the connector started to play up and eventually it stopped working. A great idea and was simple to use but the connector in the plate that the phone sits in is quite flimsy and when you constantly putting the phone in and out it doesn't last that long. Personally I would probably go with a different head unit with an iPhone connection.